How to Build Healthy Relationships for the Long Term

February 16, 2013 By Lea_

A great relationship isn't something that just happens. This is particularly true when it comes to long-term, romantic relationships such as marriage. It takes effort to keep a happy, positive relationship going strong.

Taking steps to ensure the health of your relationship now can save you a lot of agony later.

Even healthy relationships are complicated. You may think nothing of something you say or want to do, yet it can trigger something unexpected in the one you love.

Consider carefully the tips below in order to make your relationship last a lifetime.

Tips for Healthy Relationships

1. Do not become complacent. – You should not fall into the archaic trap of thinking love is a feeling. Love is what you do. You will care about the things you put your time and effort into. When you are doing things for the well-being of another, there is little room to worry about what you're getting back.

Think of your relationship as a muscle and love as the exercise for that muscle. The more actively you apply yourself to loving another, the less relationship atrophy you'll experience.

Whether you're talking about muscles, plants, or your home, if you don't put time into nurturing and caring for them, they will eventually break down and die.

You should not expect that your relationship will survive without active nurturing and care either.

2. Do romantic things without becoming romance obsessed. – People who expect romance out of relationships are inevitably let down by the real world.

People who occasionally make romantic gestures for people they love are inevitably rewarded with more intimate relationships.

Go for walks together regularly. True romance is the simple things you do together. Hold hands with the same rigor after 20 years as you did in the first weeks of your relationship.

3. Go out on regular dates. – Dating is far more beneficial for long-term relationships than it is for new relationships, yet most people are dating obsessed early in relationships and abandon dating later in relationships.

If you're stuck with kids, try to work out a date swapping service with some other couples so each couple can go out once or twice a week while another couple is in charge of all the kids.

Go all out on your dates, just as you did when you were trying to impress and woo each other.

4. Understand that your children learn healthy relationships or unhealthy relationships by observing your relationship. – If you want to give your children the best opportunity for happy relationships, you need to set the right example.

5. There is more shame in failure than in seeking help for success. – Sometimes variations in personality and family histories cause friction in a relationship. In these situations getting help from an expert who has dealt with similar situations in the past is a great idea.

Those with long-term healthy relationships will tell you that they are the most rewarding aspect of life. Those with poor relationships will tell you that they are the hardest part of life.

If you want to reap the benefits of a healthy relationship, you must be willing to give more than you receive. You should expect it to be a lifetime work of love.

Simple observation of the world we live in teaches us that what is nurtured grows and what is neglected rots. So make love an action you are constantly delivering in your relationship. If that requires getting expert assistance, don't hesitate.

Lea is a certified life coach, foodie and lifehack expert. Don’t end up like the millions of people who gave up on their dreams, get unstuck and to the next level. Take the eye-opening Live Your Dreams course now to get moving!

Lea

Welcome to the Leading Edge, I'm Lea. Here is where you'll find the support you need to get over the roadblocks and live the life that only seemed possible in your dreams. It may seem far fetched now but believe me it's not. I'm living proof! Read More…